1939 Walter Wood and Erwin Kraus Pico Cristóbal Colón Historic First Ascent Expedition

Official Expedition Narrative & Archival Record

In early 1939, American mountaineer Walter A. Wood Jr. organized an expedition under the auspices of the American Alpine Club to explore the isolated, mysterious coastal massif of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia. Recognizing that local knowledge was critical, Wood invited thirty-three-year-old Colombian-German alpinist and artist Erwin Kraus to join the team alongside American explorer Anderson Bakewell. The approach was an expedition in itself: the climbers spent nearly two weeks hacking through dense jungle trails, crossing roaring rivers, and negotiating passage with indigenous Kogui and Arhuaco leaders who held the glaciated peaks sacred. Establishing Base Camp at Laguna Naboba (4,400 m) in a stark amphitheatre of granitic towers, the team moved a high tent camp to the moraine at 4,800 metres. On February 2, 1939, roped together under pristine equatorial skies, Wood, Bakewell, and Kraus tackled the North Glacier. Navigating past open bergschrunds and ascending 45-degree firn ramps, they gained the jagged connecting arête between the twin giants of the range. Traversing exposed rock ledges, they attained the summit of Pico Cristóbal Colón at 5,730 metres. Standing on the fifth most prominent peak on Earth, just forty-two kilometres from the sparkling blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, the climbers celebrated Colombia's supreme alpine first ascent. Kraus captured magnificent photographs of the virgin icefields, cementing his status as the father of Colombian mountaineering.